Blog Archives

Media recaps looking back at the year since the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), otherwise known as the nuclear deal, signed into reality on July 14th last year, have not found many reasons to declare the agreement a triumph.…

Both Iran and the EU confirmed this week that talks over a final-status nuclear deal would resume on December 17 in Geneva. Expectations that the negotiations will finally bear fruit this time are already on the rise within the Iranian…

Iran (and other countries) this week celebrated the festival of Nowruz, which marks the start of the Persian new year. The occasion warranted speeches from Iran’s leaders, as well as the annual greeting from US President Barack Obama. Iranian Supreme…

This past week, we had a new State of the Union speech to examine, one that addressed the Iranian issue on two important counts. The first, and least difficult to miss, was Obama’s vow to continue pursuing diplomatic engagement with Iran,…

The headlines summed up the media consensus on the Geneva meetings pretty well: detailed talks with a chance for progress, – but at the end of the day no breakthrough. On the way to this reasonably balanced approach, however, the…

The build-up was impressive, but in the end even the media was forced to admit that Hassan Rouhani’s UN address left something to be desired. Many did so pretty much against their will, either ignoring what was left unstated or excusing…

Last week Iranian President Hassan Rouhani appointed former defense minister Ali Shamkhani as head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. Not surprisingly, the move was greeted with media applause – but absolutely no scrutiny. Indeed, the Christian Science Monitor’s Scott…